Kenya: Masai Mara and El Karama | KCET

Kenya: Masai Mara and El Karama

East Africa is a vast stage on which the circular, never-ending journey known as the Great Migration has played out for millions of years. After going eye to eye with thousands of wildebeest and zebra, Art enlists an old friend and bush pilot to help him capture aerial patterns of migrating herds and flocks of flamingos. On the ground, he pursues giraffe on horseback and tracks rhino on foot.

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East Africa is a vast stage on which the circular, never-ending journey known as the Great Migration has played out for millions of years. After going eye to eye with thousands of wildebeest and zebra, Art enlists an old friend and bush pilot to help him capture aerial patterns of migrating herds and flocks of flamingos. On the ground, he pursues giraffe on horseback and tracks rhino on foot.

Rugged Patagonia offers Himalayan-quality drama in a small package. Just above El Chalten, South America's unofficial trekking capital, rises the jagged silhouette of Mt. Fitz Roy - revered and iconic in the world of mountaineering and photographed thousands of times. Art sets off in search of a different and unique view of the peak. En route, he treks through an ancient forest, fords an icy river, goes under a glacier and traverses one of the largest ice caps in the world.

The American Southwest is a geological time machine. Its bizarre and beautiful rock formations are the result of eons of erosion. In Utah's Zion National Park, Art explores surreal slot canyons carved from wind and water and encounters the strange rock spires-hoodoos-that punctuate the landscape like giant exclamation points. In Arizona's Canyon de Chelly, he goes by horseback with a Navajo guide to discover petroglyphs hidden in tribal lands.

Allahabad and Varanasi are India's holiest river towns. Allahabad hosts the largest religious gathering on the planet at the confluence of its sacred rivers. Art joins nearly 20 million pilgrims for a dip in the Ganges and captures images of Hindu holy men, ascetics, who have renounced all worldly pursuits. Downstream, in ancient Varanasi, the sacred and the ordinary meet in a swirl of color, fire and ritual. Hindus strive to visit this spiritual epicenter at least once in their lives to bathe in the Ganges and cleanse their karma.

The image many of us have of Japan is congested and kinetic. But Japan has a wild side. In winter, beyond its crowded cities, the country delivers quiet, unexpected natural beauty. In the second season opener, Art Wolfe ventures north to the remote region of Hokkaido to view iconic red-crested cranes; south to the mountains to take a dip in Nagano's hot springs with mischievous macaque snow monkeys; and journeys on to the sacred temples of Mt. Fuji and Koyosan on a photographic pilgrimage.

Lying between wind-ravaged Cape Horn and Antarctica, South Georgia Island is an icy oasis with an abundance of wildlife. Stunningly beautiful and rugged, this island sanctuary protects thousands of sea birds and marine mammals. Art returns to his favorite place on earth to explore its emerald bays and fjords and visit colonies of king penguins, wandering albatross and elephant seals.